Moscow, Nov 12: The transcripts of testimony of two advisers to former US special representative to Ukraine Kurt Volker have been released by House of Representatives Democrats conducting the impeachment inquiry into US President Donald Trump. Christopher Anderson, a career Foreign Service officer, who served as Special Advisor for Ukraine Negotiations until July 12, 2019, and Catherine Croft, the current Special Advisor for Ukraine Negotiations, both testified to the House committees leading the impeachment inquiry on October 30, 2019, according to the transcripts, released by Congress on Monday and published by US media. Croft previously served on the US Mission to NATO as Ukraine desk officer and at the National Security Council as Ukraine director. She has worked with former US envoy to Ukraine Volker. Anderson, who also worked for Volker, left days before the controversial phone call between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, a conversation that significantly contributed to the launch of the impeachment inquiry. The transcript of the phone call has been released. The freeze of hundreds of millions of dollars in US military aid to Ukraine this past summer has been at the heart of the impeachment inquiry, launched by US House Democrats in September. The Democrats believe that Trump has held back aid to Ukraine in a bid to pressure its leadership into opening an investigation into former Vice President Joe Biden, a Democratic front-runner for the White House, whose son was a board member at Ukrainian gas company Burisma. Trump has denied pressuring the Ukrainian leadership while requesting it to probe possible instances of corruption, which he says is his duty as president.
The Bidens have said Trump’s corruption allegations are unfounded.
(AGENCIES)
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